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Vancouver pastor Yani Lim organized Voices Together, a Canada Day celebration of faith
which brought an estimated 8 – 10,000 people to GM Place. Just two
weeks after that, Lim was challenged to put her own faith into action, when
a crisis drew her to Indonesia. A mother and son were facing execution
in Surabaya. The woman, known only as Mrs. Sumiasih, and her son
Sugeng, had been on death row since 1989, for the revenge murder of Marine
Lt. Col. Purwanto, and several family members. Following is Lim’s
account of her last encounter with Sumiasih.
THIS REPORT is a testimony of God’s extraordinary
grace, bestowed on one whom the world condemned.
Jesus was speaking of people like Sumiasih when he said:
“I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I have not come to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
My involvement with Sumiasih started when I saw a photo
of a man who faced a death penalty in 1991. Immediately, my heart was
overwhelmed by compassion – which made me pray: “Lord, send me
to these people who face these terminal verdicts, and are not saved
yet.”
That man was Adi Saputro, who was accused of the murder
of Lieutenant Colonel Purwanto, committed three years before.
Saputro perpetrated the crime along with Prayitno, his
father-in-law; Sugeng, his brother-in-law; and Nanu, a distant relative.
But the brains behind this murder was Sumiasih, Saputro’s
mother-in-law. The murderers were quickly captured.
I learned later how Sumiasih and her husband Prayitno
ran a brothel. Some financial conflict with Purwanto led them to conspire
to organize the assassination.
Bitterness and fear
After Sumiasih entered the prison in Surabaya, she was
ministered to by a few pastors, and even got baptized. However, she was
filled with bitterness, fear and rebellion.
On 29 November 1993, she was transferred to another
prison, in Malang. I see now that this move was in God’s grand plan.
“This is your time to start my ministry in this Malang prison,”
I heard his voice so clearly in my heart.
It was confirmed when I got a request to minister to
the inmates there. The warden gave me the opportunity to minister
routinely. It seemed that it was impossible, but I am sure that what is
impossible to men is possible with God.
In my first sessions, I visited them almost daily. The
grace and mercy of our Lord was preached – and it must have been
removing the carnal side of Sumiasih. The light of his word illuminated her
life, which gradually changed her lifestyle.
At last, in 1995, Sumiasih discovered her Saviour
personally – and she testified: “I was jailed, but now I am
free, because my soul is saved by the Lord. I was blind, but now I
see.”
From then on, her life changed dramatically. She became
a very obedient inmate. The warden reported how after her conversion
Sumiasih never transgressed the prison’s rules.
She also never stopped testifying about God’s
great love to her cellmates. Many of them eventually gave their lives to
Jesus. She continued to help them live productive lives.
She did not want to waste her valuable time. She worked
hard to create embroideries from beads; and to cultivate plants,
which yielded remarkable results. Money from the sales of these things was
used for her own necessities, and also given to her family, and her own
cellmates.
From brothel to blessing
As an expression of repentance, she and Prayitno
bequeathed their brothel house to the Council of Churches in Surabaya, to
be used for public charities. Their wish was to transform it into a house
of blessing.
In 1996, she petitioned the president for clemency,
which was refused. But, praise be to God, her whole life had been changed,
so she was able to face it with a brave heart. Her execution was postponed,
because her lawyer sent a review letter once again.
On 27 June 1997, God called her husband back to him,
through a liver disease. God’s grace was very evident in
Prayitno’s salvation, as he passed away in all peace.
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In 2003, another clemency effort was refused by the
President. Sumiasih was to be executed; but once again it was postponed due
to the sending of another review letter.
Some 20 years had passed; 15 of those years Sumiasih
spent in a changed life, guided by the Holy Spirit. Many works were carried
out as the fruit of her repentance. She gave her life totally, with a
testimony much like Galatians 2:20:
“I have been crucified with Christ, and I live;
yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the
flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
on my behalf.”
On July 15, suddenly I heard Sumiasih had been moved
into Medaeng Prison in Surabaya, to be executed as soon as possible. The
whole country was in total perplexity, upon learning this execution was
still to be carried out after 20 years. Many communities, personalities and
legal institutions disapproved this death penalty.
I went rushing off to reach Surabaya. In this
high-volume season, it was a miracle to be able to fly from Vancouver to
Jakarta immediately. I was also motivated by Sumiasih’s final plea to
the government, that she would be able to meet me before the execution.
This request was granted. It was miraculous – the way of our Lord.
Ready for Jesus
In my meeting with Sumiasih, she stated how she was
very ready to meet her Jesus. Then she left a message for all people who
would continue living after she died: “Life is very short. Everybody
should prepare themselves, because death arrives like a thief.”
Sumiasih’s death hour had been determined; but most people never know
when their time is due.
At the end of our meeting, we prayed – and
submitted everything to the Lord. Due to government regulations, a male
pastor was appointed to accompany her during the last 30 minutes. He was
Rev. Gatut Budiyono, one of the directors of Bethesda Ministry of Love.
I entrusted my last message for Sumiasih to him. I
reminded her of John 11:25-26: “I am the resurrection and the life!
He who believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live. And whoever lives
and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Sumiasih,
pastor Budiyono told me, replied firmly: “Yes, I do believe it a
hundred percent.”
Rev. Budiyono said Sumiasih made it convincingly clear
she was more than ready to face the execution – because for her, this
event would lead her to meet and then live together with her Lord, her
everlasting love, forever. It was very moving to learn that Sumiasih
expressed her readiness with a peaceful, wide smile, filled with a
comforting calmness.
At midnight, the 19th of July, Sumiasih and Sugeng, her
son, were brought to a field at the Surabaya Provincial Police
Headquarters, where they faced a group of 12 shooters. They each wore a
white gown, with a black dot on their heart’s position. In the next
few seconds, everything was over. Sumiasih was at last released – not
only physically, but spiritually. This cruel world is not a place for
saints like her.
Sumiasih words lingered on. They were not just spoken,
but flowed out of her heart; she was convinced of her coming everlasting
life with the Lord Jesus Christ. This was confirmed by looking at her
mortal remains; she seemed to be resting, in a heavenly peaceful sleep.
Sumiasih . . . till we meet again, at the heavenly
throne of our Almighty God!
September 2008
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